Inspiration vs. Deadlines

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I don’t need inspiration to write my assigned articles. I know who I’m interviewing and why. I have a deadline and a need for a paycheck so the writing gets done. That’s not to say I’m not inspired while writing, just that the deadline is the driving force in these cases.

          For this blog, my magazine essays, and my facebook column for the magazines I edit, I can choose my own topics. While there is a weekly or monthly deadline, inspiration plays the bigger role—at first. If I don’t have any ideas and deadline is approaching, then the deadline pressure squeezes thoughts out of me because I never miss deadlines.

          As I write this post, I’m three weeks ahead for this blog plus I’ve written two other pieces for later this year. I’m a week ahead for the facebook column, too. At this time, magazine deadlines are ten days away so there is no deadline pressure now, but I have time to write. However, I’m not inspired. I also don’t feel the need to be inspired.

          I don’t feel the need to be inspired. That is an uncomfortable but true statement. It’s why I’m forcing myself to write this piece. I like to think I always have something to say on topics that interest me, but after writing six pieces (now seven) in nine days seemingly effortlessly I need a break.

          I enjoyed writing these pieces. I love wrestling with words and thoughts and organization. I was energized by the ideas and work, but now I’m not. I’m going to read instead then walk the dogs.

          Writing is demanding. Deadlines are essential. Inspiration is elusive. Rejuvenation is required. Downtime is necessary.

          I’ll write later—today, tomorrow, when deadlines are imminent, and when inspiration strikes again.

Dazzled by Nature

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          After all the time I’ve spent reading and writing about Mary Oliver’s poetry, I’m observing and writing about nature more often.

I was up earlier than usual one day so I took the dogs outside at 5:42 AM a few weeks ago. As we walked out the door, a practically full moon was shining through the many tangled branches of a large maple tree. It was so bright, we could see our shadows.

          When we walked around the corner of the house, the rosy hue of a rising sun was visible along the horizon. Turning my head back to the moon, it looked dark as midnight. Turning back to the sun, it was clearly the break of day.

          We all know night turns into day, but I had never seen it happen this majestically. Both sides had staked their territory. I could only marvel at the beauty of the moment and promise myself I would see this battle again.

          Up and outside minutes earlier than usual meant I witnessed moonlight and daylight in a way I never imagined—in a way I’ll never forget.

My Writing Schedule--Inspired or Not

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

When inspiration strikes, I grab a notebook and scribble down my thoughts. Inspiration is unpredictable so a notebook is always nearby, but this kind of inspiration is fleeting. It doesn’t allow for a regular writing schedule.

A better schedule: I sit at my writing desk every day, inspired or not. If I sit there, I’ll write. As I write, I become inspired. I have time to start and stop, to try new things, and to toss out what is not working. There’s pressure to do my best and to meet upcoming deadlines, but it doesn’t affect me the way it can when I’m off schedule and deadlines are looming.

          My daily writing schedule doesn’t require a certain number of hours or pages. I simply sit at my desk five or six or more times a day and work—sometimes for half an hour, usually for an hour or two, and sometimes for three hours or more at a time. (A comfortable chair is essential. Thanks for my gift, Dad!)

Life doesn’t run on a precise schedule nor does my writing, but writing is always on my schedule. I start early, around 6am. I sometimes work late, especially during monthly deadlines for the magazines I write for and edit and for this blog with its weekly midnight Sunday deadline.

          Every writing day is different depending on deadlines, but, if forced to give hard numbers, on average I write about four hours a day and edit about three hours, but not in solid blocks. I start off writing, but if my thoughts and ideas falter, I switch to editing or planning other writing projects.

When I need a break, I take the dogs out to play ball, work around the house, complete what’s on my To-Do List, read books to review, or organize my freelance projects. Then I return happily to my writing desk. Writing is not only one of my jobs, it’s my calling.

This schedule sounds idyllic, but writing and editing are hard work. Fresh eyes are needed so breaks are necessary. Also, I’ve given only average hours for writing.

In reality, during the monthly deadline week for the magazines, I often work fifteen hours a day for four or five days writing, editing, and proofing to get the issues to the printer on time. If I waited until the last minute to write my blog post, I write and edit just that for four or five hours straight. I also have to meet deadlines for my freelance projects whatever time that takes.

Add to that, I’m human so when there is too much going on (visitors, a sick dog, a broken refrigerator, etc.), I sometimes rebel by putting off writing—a double punishment to myself as I’m not doing something I love/need to do and then I feel more pressure which makes writing harder.

Don’t make writing harder for yourself. Include it in your daily schedule.

Writers write. That’s the true writing schedule I live by every day.

My Personal Writing Class--Songwriting

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          Songwriting without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice by Pat Pattison is set up as a two-month class. I’m three weeks in and I highly recommend it.

The first two weeks are timed writing exercises. Each day, one exercise lasts for 10 minutes, one for five minutes, and one for 90 seconds. In less than 17 minutes, you can meet your daily writing goal—a fantastic feeling—and it’s fun! It’s also easy to double up so you won’t fall behind when you have a busy day planned.

          The point of the exercises is to put your five senses to work, along with body and motion, when writing about objects or characters. You can read other writers’ descriptions for inspiration before you write or you can read them after you write to see which senses were stronger for them.

          The exercises seem easy. For example: describe an elevator (what writing), a sailor (who writing), six in the morning (when writing), a park bench in the city (where writing). It’s capturing all your senses in your answers that is hard. The pressure of a timer, especially one that ticks, helps squeeze words out.

          If you have kids old enough to write, you can include them in this class. Look at Taylor Swift—songs she wrote in her early teens became hits. You never know. Plus it’s fast and fun!

          Week 3 moves on to metaphors.

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.

–Orson Scott Card

          After a discussion of different types of metaphors on pages 49-51, you start with Adjective-Noun Collisions. On Day 1, the adjectives and words are given to you in the ten 90-second exercises. (example: Lonely Moonlight) On Day 2, you are given the adjectives; you get to choose the nouns. (example: Boastful _____) Day 3 you are given the nouns and have to provide the adjectives. (example: ______ cottage)

          The more you do these exercises, the more writing you can fit into the 90 seconds.

          Even if you aren’t planning on writing songs, these exercises would be useful to complete when you are having a hard time starting your writing day. Three or four exercises will jump start your brain.

          Writing is writing. Trying different genres gives you a new perspective—always a good thing for writers!

A Prayer for Freelance Writers

From Cheryl's Writing Crate

Last night I attended our first PTO meeting of the year and was thrilled to see such a large turnout--15 people.  That may seem like a lame turnout to most, but for those of us in the world of PTO, any number above the board members that shows up is a plus!

Once we got down to business, we were excited about all the plans for the upcoming school year, but we also realized we have our work cut out for us.  Funding is difficult, parent involvement is usually a challenge, and even rallying teachers to get involved can add to the mix.  An optimist at heart, I refuse to let these types of things get in the way of the spirit that we have amongst even our small group, so at the end of the meeting I suggested we take a deep breath, and visualize a positive school year experience for our kids, the teachers and the parents in our community.  Then I took it one step further and got a little cheesy by asking all in attendance to share one thought they could offer that we could turn into a PTO Prayer (not in the religious sense) to reflect on throughout the year.

The ladies (and one dad!) that were at the meeting really liked this idea and within 15 minutes we had a witty, inspiring, thought-provoking sentiment down on paper that we are going to print and distribute to our school community.  It felt great to walk away from the meeting with such a creative twist on how we as involved parents want to contribute to our school this year.

When I got home, I began thinking about this post.  As much as I'd love to admit I plan these posts in advance, it's just not possible with my full-time work schedule and busy life as a mom of 8.  Still, I look forward to it all week long and can't wait to sit down and write it.   As I reflected on our awesome PTO meeting, I began to think about prayer in general.  I'm not trying to make today's post about anything religious, I promise, but what I am trying to share is that sometimes we can take the wording of a prayer and use it as a tool for inspiration and even as a calming mechanism when we're feeling overwhelmed or frustrated that we can't write as often as we'd like.

As luck would have it (or more like it was meant to be!) I received the following e-mail entitled "A Short Prayer for Freelance Writers written by Carol Tice.   I'm sharing it below as "food for thought" in hopes that maybe you can glean a few of it's points to help inspire your writing in the days and weeks to come.

Just for today, let me be compassionate with myself.

I forgive myself for not writing enough, or well enough, or fast enough.

I am thankful today for my unique creative gifts. Instead of dwelling on regrets about what I haven’t accomplished yet, I will focus on what I can do now to develop my craft.

Let me take at least one, small step today to put my writing out there.

When my query letters go unanswered, I will remain serene and remember that it’s often not about me or my writing.

I will listen and learn from people whose feedback I value, but trust that my most important guiding voice and source of confidence as a writer lies within.

When opportunities arise, let me evaluate them with clear eyes and have the wisdom to pass if the gig isn’t right for me. I will not let feelings of panic or desperation lead me to make bad choices, but trust that if I do my marketing, the right gigs will come to me.

Because the people who matter to me are important, I will strive to set aside device-free time today in which I am fully present for them.

I will make time to move my body, stay healthy, and take in the beauty that surrounds me. I know it will fuel more creativity.

Grant that I lie down in peace tonight, grateful for the chance I’ve had today to write, to grow, and to send my message out into the world.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about how a prayer like this could influence your writing going forward.

Marketing Techniques for Writers

From Cheryl's Writing Crate

With each passing day, I, as a writer, strive to improve my craft as well as to start earning a regular income from something I love to do immensely.

Many writers consider themselves introverts and would rather be holed up in a small space, alone, writing to their hearts content rather than think about "putting their stuff" or "themselves" out there for the public to scrutinize.

I happen to be just the opposite.  (And please forgive me if I sound a bit full of myself! When you're the mother of 8 kids, 5 of them teenagers, there's not too much one can be afraid of!) I guess you'd call me the stereotypical "social butterfly".  I don't mind sharing my written words with the world, in fact, I rather enjoy it.

So where am I going with all this you ask?  I'll get right to the point.  As an author of one book, a columnist and writing enthusiast of freelance articles, and more, I have a dream of being able to earn a living from my writing.  Though I consider myself quite lucky that I've achieved many paid and unpaid writing gigs at this point in my career, I truthfully believe I could do a heck of a lot better---if----if I became a bit more savvy with my marketing skills.

Yes, some writing assignments have easily fallen in my lap, but there are plenty of opportunities that still await and if I don't do something to acquire them then who will?

The past few weeks I've been researching all kinds of ways to rev up my writing opportunities and stumbled upon a great article written by Carol Tice entitled 5 Quick Ways Busy Freelancers Can Keep Marketing.

You can visit the link above to read the entire article, but I'll share with you the one tip from these five that I intend to begin working on:  Submitting more queries.  One of my writing inspirations for 2014 is to do at least one freelance article for a national woman's magazine.  To date, I've done nothing to make that happen but I am inspired by the tip below and intend to get cracking on some queries this weekend.  Here's the author's Tip # 4:

Short bursts

If you want to send letters of introduction or query letters and feel like you never have time for a multi-hour writing project, you can get it done by splitting up the task into 10- or 15-minute tasks.

Today, just write the introductory paragraph, or maybe do a quick pre-interview with a source so your query has a quote. Tomorrow, write your bio line that’ll go at the bottom. And so on, until your query is ready to send.

Time management is one of my biggest challenges, so this quick marketing tip will hopefully guide me in the "write" direction so I can attain some more assignments and keep doing something I absolutely love to do--write!

How do you fit in some quick and necessary marketing strategies with your busy schedule?

Vision Boards Help Writers Keep on Writing!

From Cheryl's Writing Crate

One of the reasons I enjoy being a writer so much is because I love to visualize (don't most writers?).  No matter what I'm writing--a humorous family column, a chapter from my novel, even my grocery or to-do list--I usually have a pretty clear vision of what the outcome will be.  Well, let me clarify that a bit--I don't always have the piece written exactly as I'd like while I'm working on it, but I have always had the ability to picture the completed article as something I will be pleased with during the process of writing.

For example, last week I was working on a column I write each month for a local magazine that deals with different boutiques and shops.  After visiting this funky and very eclectic gift shop in town I couldn't wait to get started putting it all together on paper.  I rushed home to my Writer's Crate only to be deterred by my 7 kids who actually wanted me to serve them dinner!  Ah yes, my writing would have to wait until my family's needs were met.

Two days later, I finally sat down to work on my shopping column.  Frustrated just a bit that I hadn't been able to write when the details of this magical little shop were fresh in my mind I closed my eyes and imagined myself back in the store gleaning all the delightful items that were displayed so artfully throughout the shop.  I then envisioned myself capturing the essence of the store's personality from beginning to end on paper--with the final result being a completed article that I felt great about and that I hoped the store owner would enjoy.  When I get myself into this zone, I can usually create a final piece that I'm happy with.

One tool I've had fun using to help keep my writer's momentum going strong is a vision board.  If you're familiar at all with "The Law of Attraction" you may already know about vision boards. 

In the most literal sense, a vision board is a collection of images and notes attached to a board and placed somewhere that you can see it every day.  But truthfully, it's so much more!  For me, it's an inspired daily reminder of my deepest desires and is a very powerful writing tool.  When I look at the writer's vision board I created for myself it allows me to focus on my deepest writing desires--becoming a best-selling author, a syndicated columnist, author of a children's book and a regular contributor to a national woman's magazine to name a few items.  This visual reminder gets my juices flowing when I need a push to keep on writing.

Here's an example of a vision board that uses quotes for inspiration.

If you'd like some more information on how to create a powerful vision board of your own, you can download a free e-book written by Christine Kane called The Complete Guide to Vision Boards.  There are also many on-line articles available that can guide you as well.

Vision boards can be used for any area of your life that you'd like to focus on.  I  have two vision boards--one for family life and one for my writer's life.  Do you use visual tools to help feed your muse?

YouTube for Writers

From Cheryl's Writing Crate

As much as I love getting lost in a great read and just allowing myself  the abstract delight of drifting off into another world entirely, there are also many things in my life that lump me into the category of a "visual" learner.

For instance, there is no way I could've ever learned to tie a man's necktie if it weren't for the patient and endless repeated visual directions my father gave me years ago.  Now that I think about it, I can't possibly remember why at the age of 17 I was so desperate to learn such a thing, but I did and after a few very trying days of visual direction and explanation, my father successfully helped me achieve this very lofty goal.

Speaking of learning to tie a necktie--did you know that the most popular video on You tube is that exact thing--learning to tie a necktie?!  That's right!  According to a You Tube poll at the end of 2013, the most viewed YouTube was "How to Tie a Tie for Beginners" with over 16 million views!  So, why on earth would I bring up such a thing in a writing blog?  Because not only can you learn the double windsor tie knot on You Tube, but as a writer, you can view hundreds of wonderful you tubes on all things writing.

So while I consider myself an abstract Goddess overall, there are plenty of times I just love sitting back and watching as well as listening to some great advice--especially when it comes to my passion of writing.

If you haven't checked out You Tube lately, I suggest you take some time to visit and surf the thousands of titles available on everything from how to manicure the perfect lawn to sitting in on some very creative writer's workshops.

Here's one of my favorites--J.K. Rowling--Writing for Grown ups 2012

Just one warning--don't head over to YouTube to check out the hundreds of writing videos unless you have some extra time on your hands--it can be very addicting.

Have you ever visited YouTube for advice on writing--if so, what are some of your recommendations?